Applying for Grants

Your Goals for This Step in the Process

1. Make a habit of dreaming about possibilities and scanning for funding opportunities.
2. Draft your idea (your dream!) in detail.
3. Identify or initiate campus and community partnerships.
4. Identify sources of supporting evidence or data and documentation.
5. Draft a realistic budget, action items, and a timeline.
6. Test your idea with the help of your OHIO Funding Advisors.

The Value of Disciplined Dreaming

In a series of interviews conducted in August 2024, student affairs staff were asked what typically prevented them from applying for grants. The top three responses were 1) lack of training in applying, 2) not having an idea prepared when funding opportunities were announced, and 3) lack of time to write a proposal ahead of a deadline.

This guide is intended to address the first issue. The answer to the third impediment actually lies in the second: the key to competing successfully for funding opportunities is to have an idea and proposal draft fully developed even if you do not currently have a funding target.

Success Strategy: Don’t underestimate the value of disciplined dreaming! Don’t wait for a funding opportunity to arise. Develop your idea now. Making time now to let your mind envision possibilities and writing them down will help you generate the content you need for a proposal—the fully developed kind of proposal you can pull out of your back pocket when a funding opportunity comes up.

While acknowledging the need for the responsible management of existing resources, student affairs staff must cultivate the skill of pre-envisioning services that could be enacted if they could be funded. Grants may be posted with very short submission timelines (short for people who already have plenty of work in their day), or you may not become aware of a funding opportunity until late in the game. Never get caught without an idea! Always have a fully-fleshed-out project proposal waiting for an opportunity. Then all you need to do is edit or update the content to suit the grantor’s requirements.

So, how do you get started?

A Guide to Disciplined Dreaming

First—and we’ll keep saying this throughout this guide—build an hour into every work week just for dreaming (brainstorming ideas) and scanning for funding resources. Then pull out a blank piece of paper or open a new doc on your laptop and start drafting detailed answers to the following questions.

1. What is your idea? Be specific. What exactly do you want to do? FYI: “I want to increase student retention” is not specific. What particular event, resource, program, etc., will be a game changer for the retention of students utilizing your services?
2. Why do you want to do that particular thing? Again, be specific. If you believe in what you want to offer, help a future fund review board believe in it with you. Don’t expect them to visualize it on their own; draw them a picture and color in all the lines!
3. Where might you obtain data to support your claims? If you’re not sure, reach out for an exploratory conversation about how to start generating that data well in advance of making an application. Last minute scrambles for “evidence” are miserable. Make a habit of collecting information about your retention impact. Refer to The Critical Role of Data in Part II of this guide.
4. What kind of budget would enable you to succeed? Start by ballparking that figure even if you do not yet have a specific funding target in mind. Then, as part of your process, go find the actual figures. Know—exactly—what it’s going to take to reach your goal. TIP: Don’t be shy. Ask for what you want. “No” is only one possible answer. “Yes” is another.
5. What partners (campus or community) or approvals might you need to accomplish your project goals? For example, are you hoping to update or change a physical university space? You need to consult with Design & Construction early. Do you want to improve student safety or access? Talk to OUPD.  In general, your best resource is your OHIO Foundation or ORSP White Team funding advisors for their input. Just tell them about your idea (even if it is in the beginning stages) and ask them who else you should be consulting as you develop your project.

TIP: When you are ready to go for a proposal submission, you may need written documentation of consultations or—as some grant templates require—formal assessments or estimates from the appropriate departments. Plan ahead!

6. What action items would be necessary to complete your project within 1-2 years? (This is the typical project timeline for many initial awards.)  Be specific. Be realistic. Don’t promise more than you can do, and remember to tag division, university, and community partners to share the load, but do develop a well-thought-out series of action items that will help you reach your goal.
7. What might your timeline (everything from planning to project reporting) look like? Again, be specific and realistic, but put your action items into a timeline. If you promise to complete an action by a certain date, you'll want to do your best to keep that promise. Action items without deadlines often end up on the back burner. 

Success Strategy: Liberate your brainstorming! Don’t allow the Negativity Gremlin to keep you from reaching for possibilities. If your mind has an internal critic yammering at you about what “can’t be done” or “couldn’t possibly be funded,” shush it up and visualize the best possible outcome for your program. Then go after that outcome!

Your Goals for This Step in the Process

1. Learn to draft proposal content in advance of funding opportunities.
2. Familiarize yourself with the typical elements required for a funding proposal.
3. Test your idea and proposal elements by committing them to paper or a digital document and gathering the input of colleagues/external readers.
4. Practice preparing realistic elements like project design, timeline, and budget/budget justification even if you do not yet have a funding target.
5. Begin identifying potential partners and approvers.
6. Initiate a search for the data you may need to support your statements of services impact and need.

Grants are typically announced in Calls for Proposals (CFPs), alternatively called Requests for Proposals (RFPs) or NOFOs (Notification of Funding Opportunity). For simplicity’s sake, throughout the remainder of this guide, we will refer to these as CFPs.

Many grantors provide helpful guides to support the success of your application process. For example, the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Woman (OVW) website includes not only posted recordings of grant information sessions, but also a detailed Application Companion Guide (updated yearly) and a concise process guide called Six Steps to a Strong Grant Application that is worth reviewing even if you are not applying for an OVW grant. Look for these kinds of resources as you investigate grant opportunities.

Some CFPs require a cover letter; others do not. Almost every CFP, however, will require an executive summary or abstract, which is a concise overview of the proposed project or funding request. While grant guidelines will specify the content the review board wants to see in your executive summary, these expectations vary. However, best practices for this proposal element (whether formatted as a summary, an abstract, or a cover letter) recommend that you

• Be concise.
• Include your department or program name and your project title.
• Describe your project, your goals, and anticipated outcomes (i.e., why your project matters).

This proposal element is the first thing your review board will see, so make it count. This is your best opportunity to capture a review board’s interest in your project.

The fund/grant CFP questionnaire or guide will most likely include a character, word, or page limit for the executive summary. For example, the Joe Burrow Foundation Do Good Grant 2024 template allowed only 50 characters for the summary, which was composed or pasted inside an online application field, while the 2025 ODHE (Ohio Department of Higher Education) Campus Student Safety Grant template allowed up to 2 pages, double-spaced, in size 11 Arial font, submitted as part of a single PDF containing the entire proposal from cover letter to timeline (budget and justification submitted in an Excel spreadsheet).

We have included all these details to draw your attention to two important points about preparing applications.

First, every fund has its own criteria for the proposal, and proposals may be dismissed without consideration if they fail to meet those expectations. Scrutinize the funding resource’s guidelines and questionnaire. Know exactly how that particular review board wants to receive your information.

Second, you must be prepared to adapt your content to the specific funding resource’s proposal criteria and template, but—and here’s the good news!—you can pull content from your prepared proposal draft and adapt it to a variety of resource templates. You do not need to reinvent the wheel with each proposal.

Success Strategy: Review the grantor’s expectations for the proposal executive summary or cover letter before you write and then write this segment as though it will be your only chance to communicate to a review board.

Example of Abstract Limited to 100 Words

Survivors of interpersonal violence represent every academic branch of Ohio University. To persist in their education, these students must navigate both residual trauma and concerns about vulnerability to their perpetrators while on campus. To reduce trauma so that these students can persist to graduation, the OHIO Survivor Advocacy Program (SAP) is seeking assistance from the 1804 Fund to modify our offices in Lindley Hall to create more secure and ADA-compliant advocacy and lounge areas, where these students may rest and concentrate on study without the anxiety and very real threat to safety that attend public campus spaces for them.   (99 words)

Example of Executive Summary (same project as above, but submitted to different funding resource) Limited to Two Pages

Survivors of Interpersonal Violence (IPV) and Sexual Assault (SA) represent every academic branch of our university (see Appendix A: New Client Data, August to November 2024). To reduce trauma symptoms so that our Ohio University survivors of IPV and SA may persist to graduation, the Survivor Advocacy Program (SAP) is seeking a grant from the ODHE Campus Student Safety Grant Program in the amount of $12,615.00 to modify their offices in Lindley Hall to create more secure and ADA-compliant advocacy and study/lounge areas where survivors of sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating/domestic violence, and stalking may rest between classes and study without the anxiety and very real threat to safety that attend public campus spaces for them.

Compared to the general population, college students are at higher risk for IPV and SA, with approximately 1 in 5 women experiencing sexual assault while in college (Brewer, et al., 2018; Coates Quezada et al., 2024; Mengo & Black, 2016). Because many survivors are sharing their academic environment with their perpetrators, they are subject to “a unique constellation of proximal and distal influences that elevate the risk for maladaptation after the assault (Campbell et al., 2009)” (Coates Quezada, et al., 2024, p. 1539). These members of our university communities endure distressing and debilitating moments every day that can impede their academic progress. To persist in their education, they must navigate both residual trauma and genuine concerns about their vulnerability to their aggressors in campus public spaces that can diminish their focus, subvert their studies, and leave them feeling threatened and isolated even when surrounded by their peers. Many are so compromised by continuing trauma that, without support, they transfer to other universities or abandon their education (Brewer, et al., 2018, p. 684).  Even for those who stay, asking for help is challenging. 

The SAP team’s goal is to ameliorate the negative impact of victimization on the academic potential of OHIO SAP clientele and support this community of students by enhancing the security and privacy of an existing space on campus for their respite and support. Our proposed modifications are founded on a safety assessment walkthrough conducted in November 2024 by the Ohio University Public Safety Department (SVA submitted separately to schoolsafetygrants@dps.ohio.gov).

One of the SAP team’s favorite quotes is, “Survivors, you were, are, and always will be more than what has happened to you” (anonymous). Currently our Ohio University survivors come to the SAP space only for counseling or advocacy services, fully embodying their identity as survivors, but our concern—and the concern we believe is pertinent to the mission of our university—is for their larger identity and experience as OHIO students and community members. With the assistance of the Campus Student Safety Grant, the SAP suite can be renovated in ways that will protect and support them as they rebuild their lives after a trauma, communicating the message that OHIO prioritizes their well-being and their right to pursue their education in safety.   

A statement of need helps a review board understand why your project should be funded. Statements of need, however, can take a variety of forms. For example, you may be asked to explain the need in the form of a project justification, an impact statement, or even a statement of need articulated as a mission statement. Furthermore, the amount of information you may be allowed or required to provide for such a section will vary. The best way to prepare to provide the required information is to engage in a Q&A about your project. The following are the kinds of questions that will help you develop your statement of need.

• Who specifically will your project serve, and why have you focused on that target population for your service or program?
• How, specifically, will your project help your target population?
• How will your project contribute to or support the Division of Student Affairs’ services and/or OHIO’s institutional mission and/or priorities?
• Do you have the data to support your claims? Reach out for this content early!
• Do you have anecdotal evidence to support your claims? Some funding entities will permit anecdotal evidence; others want numbers. Be prepared for both!

Please note that, per your advisors with the OHIO Foundation, debt reduction is not a case for a funding proposal. As you develop your idea and identify potential funding sources, pay close attention to what grantors are willing to fund and consider whether you can redistribute existing resources or collaborate with other units to address less awardable needs while putting awards toward projects grantors will fund. Be strategic! 

Draft the justification for your project in advance and be specific about the outcomes. Pay close attention to the word and character limits for this content. When you then identify a target funding resource, you can simply adapt your content to suit the form in which a grantor wants to receive the information.

Success Strategy : Our OHIO Foundation shared this idea development tip for STUDENT AFFAIRS staff: Everyone who engages in fundraising should ask themselves, "Outside of my office or division, who would care about this project?” If you can't think of anyone, more planning is needed. This practice separates needs from wants.

Example of Statement of Need (500-word limit)

The Cats’ Cupboard mission is to support Ohio University students experiencing food insecurity, a population comprised of both international and domestic students, the majority of which are upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, and their household dependents.  Our programs are 100% donor funded, and our pantry typically has an operating budget of approximately $40,000 per year.   

As we are all aware, however, the significant rise in U.S. inflation has impacted family budgets across the nation, and donations for the Cats’ Cupboard food pantry have suffered in response, leading to a sharp decline in food donations and an increase in the number of persons needing food assistance. The Cats’ Cupboard Food Pantry on the Ohio University Athens campus had 749 active pantry members last year, many of whom had families to support as well. As of the writing of this proposal, we are already averaging 150 visits per week. While we have very generous and passionate donors, the significant rise in the cost of food is making it very difficult to maintain a reliable stock of pantry staples.

This grant would enable the Cats’ Cupboard to procure a supply of staple items and alternative sources of protein such as canned and dried beans, canned vegetables, lentils, rice, peanut butter, and cereals that are very difficult to keep in stock at this time. We also want to have fresh, healthy produce options available, but this can be cost prohibitive. The grant would make it possible for us to make consistent produce options available to our pantry members, produce we would purchase from the OHIO Student Farm, which emphasizes sustainable agricultural practices for the community. (271 words)

Example of Statement of Need for a Collaborative Proposal (500-character limit)

This collaborative proposal represents Ohio University services whose individual missions align in fostering a healthier Ohio by addressing fundamental needs for food security on and off campus. Community Food Pantry addresses social drivers of health in the individuals and greater southeast Ohio community we serve. Cats’ Cupboard helps students attain an education by meeting their needs for nutritious food. Working together, we can serve our collective community in a more expansive manner. (495 characters)

Example of Impact Statement (1000-character Limit)

CHP established its Community Food Pantry in December 2022, through a large-scale partnership with the Southeast Ohio Food Bank. Between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, CHP served 1,246 households representing 8 surrounding counties. As a Tier 3 pantry and partner of the Southeast Ohio Food Bank, the CHP Community Food Pantry is open to both the Ohio University student population and the southeast Ohio community. Cats’ Cupboard serves a population of domestic and international students and their household dependents.  Students and young community members experiencing food insecurity are at greater risk of poor academic performance, physical health problems, and mental health issues, vastly increasing the likelihood of students dropping out before attaining their educational goals. This grant would enable our pantries to address the growing need for assistance as families on campus and throughout the region experience food insecurity due to rising food costs.  (976 characters)

Example of Mission Statement that Integrates Statement of Need (500-character limit)

This collaborative proposal represents Ohio University services whose individual missions align in fostering a healthier Ohio by addressing fundamental needs for food security on and off campus. Community Food Pantry addresses social drivers of health in the individuals and greater southeast Ohio community we serve. Cats’ Cupboard helps students attain an education by meeting their needs for nutritious food. Working together, we can serve our collective community in a more expansive manner. (496 characters)

Let’s begin this section with another strategy for preventing missed opportunities: pre-writing or fully drafting your proposal content even before you have a grant target in mind. Remember: one of the top three reasons student affairs staff identified as preventing them from applying for grants or fund awards was not having an idea ready when a funding opportunity was announced!

Your goal in this part of the proposal drafting process is to create clear, measurable, meaningful outcomes and to be prepared to demonstrate the alignment of your project with a grantor’s priorities. To do this, you should be able to answer these questions: What will this project accomplish, and how will you know if it was successful? Don’t hurry past this step. Work hard on your responses and provide detail. The significance of your outcomes may be crystal clear to you, but just assume your reader knows nothing of the context, nothing of the population, nothing of the current research on projects like yours, and explain why these outcomes are essential.

Success Strategy: Thinking through your project outcomes and writing them down will help you explain how your project aligns with the priorities of the granting entity. As with each component of your proposal, don’t wait until you identify a potential funding target to fully draft your content, and don’t assume you can just keep them in your head and still be prepared. Whatever is not committed to a page or a screen is content you would need to compose at the last minute (i.e., under stressful circumstances) if you suddenly became aware of a funding opportunity with a tight deadline.

Example of Project Outcomes  

The goals for a Classroom to Careers program like our OHIO Advantage project should focus on enhancing student career readiness, fostering networking partnerships, and integrating real-world learning into academic experiences. Therefore, our project goals are as follows:

1. Increase internship, undergraduate research, and first-destination rates. Ensure that a high percentage of OHIO students are equipped to secure internships, co-ops, or full-time employment in their field of study.
2. Enhance career readiness skills. This involves providing OHIO students with hands-on experiences that develop critical workplace skills, such as communication, problem-solving, and adaptability.
3. Integrate career-focused learning into the curriculum. Embed career development opportunities into coursework through project-based learning, case studies, guest lectures, and applied research.
4. Increase student engagement in career development. This will entail encouraging student participation in career workshops, networking events, and professional development activities. 

Next—with equal attention to clarity and detail, explain how your project aligns with the grantor’s priorities. As a writer of a proposal, you must always remember that your job is to demonstrate the relevance of your project to the mission, objectives, or priorities of the grantor or granting organization. You cannot assume that a review board will just “get it”—that someone reading through dozens (or hundreds) of proposals in a tight timeframe will be willing or able to interpret the relevance or importance of your project, so make sure you connect all the dots for the reader.

Success Strategy: It never hurts to quote the grantor’s priorities. Some granting entities will require you to include a statement of relevance, so go ahead and be obvious! Use a grantor’s stated mission or objective to show exactly how your project aligns with what they want to support.

Example of a Statement of Relevance Specifically Referencing Fund Priorities

The SAP team recognizes that the connection to the UG learning-specific goal detailed under the 1804 Fund categories for support (promoting “curricular innovations and programs and activities that enhance and integrate undergraduate students’ curricular and co-curricular experience” for a general population) may not be immediately obvious. However, we are proposing that the creation of a safe study and resting place for this at-risk population of OHIO students speaks directly to the 1804 Fund Program Goal of supporting Ohio University’s core mission of “maintaining, strengthening, and enhancing a learning-centered community” for a portion of our student body that represents every college within our university. We were also inspired to apply because of a prior 1804 Fund award for the development of a veteran students’ lounge announced in the August 2020 issue of Ohio Today Research and Impact. Like SAP, this group recognized the importance of providing a dedicated safe space for a vulnerable population of OHIO students, where they could “remove themselves from environmental triggers,” enabling them to “connect with others who have had similar experiences” and “concentrate without distraction on their academics.”  

Example of a Statement of Relevance Contained within a Proposal Narrative 

The present and future of higher education requires more direct linkages between the college academic experience and career readiness. More than half the students who responded to a 2024 Student Voice survey about career preparation believed that their faculty members should be preparing them for careers. A 2025 Hult International Business School survey of 800 HR leaders and 800 early career employees provided confirmation in their finding that colleges need to better prepare their students for the workforce. Furthermore, employers are seeking applicants with more employment experience because they believe they can “hit the ground running” compared to recent college graduates with little or no employment experience. Our Konneker Fund project, OHIO Advantage, is designed to forge connections between the academic curriculum and career-related skills that will give our Ohio University graduates a competitive edge in the job market, where they will be able to promote themselves on the basis of their skills as well as their majors. The OHIO Advantage project will employ three strategies to attain this objective:

1. Tag courses with career competencies.
2. Develop a community of practice focused on the integration of career competencies into existing courses.    
3. An alumni speaker series titled “You majored in that, but now you want to do what?!” 

Some CFPs will ask you to provide a complete timeline of action items associated with your project; others will simply ask you for start and end (reporting) dates. The larger federal grants are more likely to expect this information, and several will also require that awardees or their representatives attend (frequently virtual) workshop sessions to ensure projects are moving forward toward timely completion. Certain smaller, private grants, however, may also include such expectations in their CFPs, as in this example from the 2025 Allstate-CELO College Service Grant. Note that this grant requires attendance at both virtual and in-person convenings. Awardees’ attendance at the in-person even is paid for by the Allstate Foundation, but this requirement was built into the unit’s proposal timeline.

2025 - 2026 Timeline

• March 1, 2025: Application Launches
• April 15, 2025: Application Deadline
• June 2025: Notification of Awards
• August 14-15, 2025: College Service Grantee In-person Convening
• October 2025: College Service Grantee Virtual Convening
• February 2026: College Service Grantee Virtual Convening
• April 2026: College Service Grantee Virtual Convening
• May 15, 2026: Grant Expenditure Deadline
• June 5, 2026: Grant Report Deadline
• TBA: Grantee Student Representative Virtual Focus Groups

For your own benefit and to enhance your chances of receiving an award, you should give a project timeline your full attention, brainstorming all potential action items that will help you complete an impactful project and identifying staffing or partner/collaborator responsibilities associated with each task. Even if you are not required by a grantor to submit your complete timeline, you and your project partners will benefit from clarifying expectations regarding tasks and responsibilities.

Success Strategy: Create a detailed timeline. Review your project goal (what you want to do) and outcomes (what you want the impact to be) and then identify the milestones that will get your project to that goal. Put them on your timeline with dates. If you don’t have a funding resource with proposal and project deadlines already identified, use time frames like Week One, Week Two, Month One, Month Six, and so on.

Starting your planning well ahead of time increases your chances of writing a successful proposal and reduces stress. Additionally, it addresses the second most common reason identified by STUDENT AFFAIRS staff in the August 2024 interviews for not applying for grants. Most grants are posted on an annual or biennial basis. If you missed one this semester or this year, look up the history of postings for that award and schedule your planning initiation date for next semester or next year. Get well in front of the cyclical submission deadlines.

Example Timeline for Project Proposal with an October Funding Target Deadline

April – Start your dreaming process. What do you want to do? What partners might you need to tap, and will the summer session be a viable time for engaging in collaboration, or should you reach out now? If potential partners will be available in the summer, continue with the following timeline.

May – Identify a potential project, potential partners/collaborators, and a potential funding target. Confer with department or program supervisor about intent to pursue this project and funding.

Between May and June – Meet with partners to articulate the project goal, outcomes, funding target, and timeline. Locate grant CFP/questionnaire/guide to share with OHIO Foundation and ORSP White Team, and alert OHIO Funding Advisors re: intent to apply. The OHIO Funding Advisors will advise whether the proposal must be routed through Cayuse prior to submission. Initiate inquiries re: institutional cost-sharing (at division or university level).

July – Ensure that sources of supporting data have been initiated and/or data collection is in process; confirm contributions from partners/collaborators; initiate contact with any departments that may need to provide assessments, letters of support, or approvals; detail the budget and finalize project timeline; check grant guidelines and/or questionnaire to see if documentation must be attached (e.g., 501(c)(3) status, a Board of Trustees list, a letter of support from a division or university representative or project partner, a formal assessment of need from OHIO Public Safety or Design and Construction, retention data, etc.). 

August – Complete draft of entire proposal using CFP questionnaire and share with OHIO Foundation and ORSP White Team representatives for input prior to finalization of the proposal.

September – If the proposal must be routed through Cayuse, create a New Proposal on Cayuse at least two weeks in advance of the submission deadline. Watch for approval updates on Cayuse. If there is a delay, contact the approver who currently has the proposal in their queue. Address any questions or concerns about proposal content. Remember: a proposal may not be submitted to an external grant portal until it has been approved in Cayuse!

October 1 – Review the grant CFP requirements to ensure that proposal content meets every expectation detailed in the grant guidelines and/or questionnaire.

October 13 – Submit proposal to the grant portal. (October 13 was the 2024 submission deadline for the grant proposal submission from which this timeline was taken.)

Assessment is a critical component of your planning. Devise several ways by which you will measure your outcomes (the metrics for your project). Some granting entities require a statement (narrative-style) of impact and outcomes. Others require lists or tables.

Success Strategy: Test your content on non-specialists. Run your mission statement or concise project description and outcomes by a few colleagues who are not in your department. Or go for the gold and run them by people who do not work at a university. (Invite them to be critical readers!) Listen carefully to their questions and comments. If they think your content is not clear enough, a review board reader may have the same problem. Write to a non-specialist.

Example of Project Support Data and Impact Tracking

• GOAL #1: Increase availability of nutritious food options for clients, including providing fresh vegetables, fruits, and frozen meat year-round. METRIC: Document purchases of fresh produce and meat available on a monthly basis and ensure that baseline amounts are met.
• GOAL #2: Expand the capacity of our pantries to adequately meet the demand of our pantry clients, ensuring a predictable and adequate food supply each month. METRIC: Determine a baseline and ensure we remain at or above that baseline by documenting monthly procurements.
• GOAL #3: Collect impact data on perceptions of access and the availability of fresh produce/healthy food options. METRIC: Survey CHP guests and Cats’ Cupboard members to assess perceived changes in food security based on access to pantries and availability of healthy food options.

Example of Project Goals Evaluation Metrics Focusing on Retention & Participation Data

Evaluating OHIO Advantage will require a blend of qualitative and quantitative metrics to assess its efficacy in bridging academic learning with career readiness. Key evaluation metrics will include the following: 

1. # of General Education courses with NACE Competencies listed
2. # of offered courses with NACE competencies listed
3. Retention and graduation rates: comparison of retention and graduation rates of program participants versus non-participants to measure academic persistence
4. Alumni success and career progression: tracking alumni career advancement, salary growth, and long-term job satisfaction
5. Skill development and competency gains: pre- and post-assessments measuring student growth in key career competencies such as communication, problem-solving, and leadership
6. Equity and access: evaluation of participation rates among diverse student populations to ensure inclusivity and equal access to career opportunities
7. Student satisfaction and engagement: surveys/feedback opportunities assessing students’ perceptions of the program’s effectiveness in preparing them for their careers
8. Faculty and staff involvement: measurements of faculty engagement in integrating career-focused learning into their courses and mentoring students

Reporting your outcomes is the essential concluding step in your project. Most granting entities will require some sort of final evaluation and will have a deadline by which this report should be submitted. If you overlook this step or fail to submit a project report on time, you may lose your ability to receive funding from your grantor in the future. If the grantor is an external (non-OHIO) entity, ORSP will also expect a final project report, and you will want to be prepared to submit your assessment as part of your division reporting as well. Start by reviewing the grantor’s requirements for reporting. If you are still in the “dreaming” stage of idea development, go ahead and think about how you might report your findings. Practice is good!

Example of List-style Reporting Plan

In our final project report due June 5, 2026, we will provide the following metrics concerning the use of project funds and impact:

• Student Leadership & Workforce Preparation Documentation - At the inception of the project, the students participating in the leadership activities for the mural project and the relaunch of the student organization will meet with the SAP Director and Professional Advocates to develop a list of expectations for the workplace skills they will develop. These will include communications, teamwork, problem solving, professional networking, event planning, confidentiality, and mentoring. At the conclusion of the academic year, the students will meet again with the SAP Director and/or Advocates to assess their progress, resulting in formal documentation the students may use for their resumes.
• Public Outreach - To celebrate the work and promote survivor advocacy services on campus and in the Athens community, a Survivor Speak Out will be held as the first in a series of public-relations events. Speak Outs amplify survivor voices and promote healing in a supportive environment, a platform that challenges stigmas and advocates for change by making survivor narratives visible and heard.
• Participation Data - SAP will track participation in the mural project by number of contributors/volunteers and the organizations or departments they represent.
• Anecdotal Testimony – SAP will collect anonymous quotes/testimonies from those who participated in the mural project to measure the impact on the community.
• Publicity and Promotion - SAP will include copies of news releases about the mural project, plus samples of materials promoting the student org and SAP services.
• Narrative of Student Organization Development - SAP will provide a narrative of progress in the revitalization of the ASAP student organization that the mural project will help jumpstart, including a list of events/activities and numbers of participants.

Grantors frequently require documentation of various kinds. Your go-to resource for documentation of the University’s non-profit qualifications is the OHIO Foundation representative. (See Know Your OHIO Funding Advisors.) Review your grantor’s CFP (Call for Proposals), guidelines, or questionnaire to see if they expect or allow appendices. Some do not. Some want you to include your content in the body of the proposal; others want you to link to content instead of loading documents or tables.

Even if a grantor does not specifically request a letter of support from the Vice President of Student Affairs or a campus collaborating department, these can only bolster your proposal and should be included as an attachment. Institutional data and reports are often requested, but the submission instructions differ. Some granting entities will ask you to link to a university’s web page; others will specify that you include the information as part of your proposal narrative.

Success Strategy: Communicate your need for documentation well in advance of your submission deadline. Alert your supervisor, Dean, VP, collaborating units, or Funding Advisors that you are developing a proposal and that you may or will be reaching out for the appropriate documentation or letters of support. Then stay in touch! You won’t enjoy the additional stress of holding up a proposal while you wait for a necessary or influential document. 

There are several University policies, as well as state and federal regulations that govern the reception and utilization of external funds (awards and grants). All this information is available online, but not all of it will be relevant to your project, and it can be easy to overlook a critical element of compliance.

Here’s the good news: you do not need to become an expert in these policies and regulations. You already have experts on staff at Ohio University, people ready to help you navigate the compliance landscape. They are your OHIO Funding Advisors with the OHIO Foundation and the ORSP White Team. Start with them as you are developing your proposal and stay in touch with them throughout the process. This is so much better than trying to correct mistakes at proposal submission time. They also tend to know if other funding resources are available. 

Success Strategy: The best way to do this is to reach out to both the Foundation and the ORSP White Team at the start of your development process for an informal chat. Let them know what you’re dreaming about doing and to which funding resource you are thinking about applying, and they can give you an idea of the kinds of internal or external approvals or regulations you might need to consider as you work.

University policies you should review in the development stage of your process include the following, but there may be others of which your OHIO Funding Advisors can make you aware. A short excerpt from each proposal is included, but it is important that you check online for policy updates.

• Policy 19.050: Submission of Proposals for Support of Research or other Activities to Governmental Agencies, Business or Industrial Concerns, or Other Organizations 
  All proposals for external support of research or other programs, exclusive of student financial aid, must be approved by the ORSP and the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies prior to submission to the prospective sponsor. The ORSP reviews the proposal for format, quality of preparation, and content. The budget is reviewed to ensure that essential costs are not overlooked, salaries are properly computed and projected, fringe benefits and appropriate indirect costs are included, cost sharing is reasonable and realizable, and that it conforms to the requirements of the University and prospective sponsor.
• Policy 55.007: Purchasing – Competitive Bidding
  This policy describes the conditions under which a purchase must be competitively bid, and details policies and procedures for same.
• Policy 19.045 Administering External Grants & Contracts
  This policy provides for the programmatic and fiscal administration of external grants and contracts (including subcontracts). This policy does not apply to student financial aid programs or gifts and donations. Topics addressed include Acceptance of Award Document, Restricted Account Activation, Expenditure of Restricted Grant and Contract Funds, Modifications to Awards, Subcontracting and Consulting, Reporting and Overdue Reports, and Equipment.
• Policy 19.051: Guidelines for Sponsored Research
  This policy provides for the approval and endorsement of proposals soliciting external funds in support of research and other activity at Ohio University. Successfully funded proposals require minimum criteria to be met before account activation will take place. Please refer to Policy 19.045.
• Policy 19.053: Distribution of Sponsored Programs and Research Incentive Funds
  This policy presents a basis that applies only to competitive grants or contracts and does not apply to such awards as capitation grants and other grants which are awarded on a formula or other non-competitive basis.

When your proposal is fully drafted and you have an external funding resource target in mind, you will need to submit your proposal for approval routing through Cayuse, the Research Administration Software used by Ohio University. Creating a proposal in Cayuse when applying for an external grant is required.

Success Strategy: Working with the ORSP White Team via Cayuse is the best way to ensure your proposal for an external award is being appropriately reviewed. You cannot submit a proposal for an external grant without the approvals, but the Cayuse system and ORSP will help your proposal move through that process. You cannot accept an external award without this process. You cannot spend an external award without this process. This is designed to protect you, the University, and the granting agency. Learn to love this system!

On the OHIO Cayuse website, under the heading Learn about the Modules, you will find a description of all the capabilities of the system. Of most relevance to beginners in student services is the Sponsored Projects module. This is the module that tells you how to “create proposals, route them for approval, follow them through the award process and ultimately receive an account number for spending.”

While training before using Cayuse is not required, ORSP strongly recommends that you “create an account at Cayuse Academy to view four introductory ‘Sponsored Projects 4.0|Research Level 1’ videos created by Cayuse. These videos demonstrate how to navigate the sponsored Projects module. ORSP has also created step-by-step, definition, and explanatory documentation for your use.” 

Do not submit your proposal to the approvals queue until you are absolutely certain it is ready for review. Once you submit it, you cannot retract it for editing. Check back routinely to see updates in the approval process. Once your proposal is approved, ORSP will give you the go-ahead for submission of your proposal via your grantor’s designated portal or process.

Success Strategy: Submit to Cayuse at least a week in advance of your proposal submission deadline. If an approver has a question about the proposal, you want time to address it before the external grant submission portal closes.

To maximize student impact and make the strongest case for continued support and funding, you must include intentional assessment and evaluation strategies. These strategies ensure that activities are aligned with goals and that resources are used effectively.

1. Developing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
   1. KPIs provide specific, measurable benchmarks of success. These may include:
      1. Retention or graduation rates
      2. Student satisfaction or engagement metrics
      3. Participation numbers in key programs
      4. Learning gains measured through direct or indirect tools
   2. KPIs should reflect both programmatic impact and alignment with institutional priorities, such as Ohio University’s commitment to student well-being, access, and success.
2. Data Collection Methods
   1. Different types of data tell different parts of the story. Consider using a mix of:
      1. Surveys (quantitative)
      2. Focus groups (qualitative)
      3. Pre/post assessments
      4. Observation logs
      5. Institutional data dashboards
   2. Select methods that align with your goals, available resources, and timeline.
3. Using Results for Continuous Improvement
   1. Assessment is only useful when applied. Consider:
      1. Debriefing results as a team
      2. Sharing data with stakeholders (students, partners, campus leaders)
      3. Documenting how changes are implemented based on findings
   2. Use assessment results to not only support your unit values and mission alignment, but also for mid-grant revisions, year-end reporting, and future funding proposals.
4. Reporting Outcomes
   1. Grantors and stakeholders value transparency and outcomes-based storytelling. Strong reporting should:
      1. Connect data to initial goals and KPIs
      2. Highlight unexpected findings or opportunities
      3. Include participant feedback, testimonials, or success stories
      4. Show growth, change, or lessons learned
5. Best Practices & Lessons Learned
   1. The most impactful assessment practices in student affairs are those that are collaborative, intentional, and student-centered.

The following best practices reflect what has worked across institutions and departments:

• Center Assessment in Purpose: Begin each program or initiative by clearly articulating its purpose. Design assessment strategies that answer, "How will we know if we fulfilled that purpose?" Align every measure back to a learning, service, or developmental outcome.
• Start Small and Scale Thoughtfully: Assessment doesn’t need to be large-scale to be meaningful. Pilot smaller assessment tools (e.g., a three-question feedback form) and build from there. As your comfort and capacity grow, integrate more complex data collection or longitudinal strategies.
• Close the Loop: Assessment only matters if findings are used. Build in time and space for reflection after each assessment cycle. Ask, "What did we learn, and what are we going to do with it?" Share changes with stakeholders to demonstrate responsiveness.
• Collaborate Across Units: Partner with other departments or colleagues in the Division of Student Affairs, Institutional Research, or Academic Affairs to co-create assessment plans and share findings. These collaborations broaden perspectives, increase buy-in, and enhance data storytelling.
• Embrace Mixed Methods: A combination of quantitative (e.g., retention data) and qualitative (e.g., student stories) paints a fuller picture of impact. Use multiple methods to highlight both breadth and depth of learning and experience.
• Document, Document, Document: Keep clear records of assessment tools used, data collected, interpretation discussions, and action steps taken. Not only does this build a case for funding and improvement, but it also helps onboard new staff or replicate effective practices elsewhere.

The most important thing you need to remember from this section is that your work does not conclude with the submission of the proposal or even the completion of your project. Some grantors will require detailed reporting of how you spent their funding and what outcomes you documented. Some will require in-person attendance at a reporting or celebration event in which you share your awardee experience; others will expect a formal written report; some will simply expect you to join members of their board for a post-project interview; still others will simply ask that you publish your project accomplishments and send them a copy of the publication. It is important to know your grantor’s expectations in advance (check the Call for Proposals or the grant guidelines) and to follow through. Failing to meet these expectations can result in discontinuation of a grant or rejection of future proposals.

As you prepared your proposal, you should have detailed the assessment strategies (the metrics) you intended to use to assess your project’s efficacy. Start by reviewing those. If you are awarded, you should immediately build your assessment and reporting into your timeline (if you have not already done so). Additionally, you will want to prepare a mechanism for tracking/documenting your spending, and you should be keeping tabs on your data accumulation as you go.

You should also be prepared to document unexpected challenges (delays in obtaining resources or hiring personnel that affect how quickly you can move your project along, for example) and how you then adjust your project goals and timelines.

Success Strategy: Learn to think of documentation and reporting as a springboard to future projects. Accurate, timely reporting is built on accurate, careful, and consistent documentation. This part of grant management is not an afterthought, but the key to maintaining a relationship with a grantor you have worked hard to establish. Many grants are renewable. Many grantors are colleagues with other grantors from whom you may hope to seek a grant in the future. Know the reporting expectations and deadlines. Meet the reporting expectations and deadlines.